Immunoprecipitation is a laboratory technique for isolating a protein from a solution. In one technique, paramagnetic beads are coated with antibodies specific to the protein of interest, and the beads are introduced into the solution and the proteins of interest bind to the antibodies on the beads. A magnet is used to retain the beads in a localized part of the container in which the solution is held. The solution is then pipetted or poured out of the container, leaving the beads in the container and coated with the protein of interest. The magnet and the container can then be separated so that the beads can be easily removed from the container for further processing.
Typically, multiple containers are handled in a group, in order to increase the efficiency of the isolation. Improvements are needed in devices for managing such groups of containers for immunoprecipitation and other techniques.